Do you ever have patients or even yourself, that are chronically gripping their back? Using their back muscles for practically everything? It's fairly common, but can get in the way of a very strong and thoughtful rehab program.

You've seen this before. Everything is braced, stiff and locked down — they are essentially planking through their entire day. In this episode, Erica breaks down this pattern, why it develops, and most importantly — how to change it. From using your environment and simple props to reduce guarding, to a practical exercise progression to retrain movement, this episode gives you a clear roadmap.

This is a movement pattern we see frequently in clinical practice. But how do you train someone out of this habit? Take squats, for example. Then squats, holding a pillow in front of you. Same movement, but you're holding onto a pillow to reduce some of your back gripping. Erica talks about how to develop a reference for center and some strategies for weightlifting when you're on a incline bench in the gym.

This is an important episode to listen to because this is such a common pattern and often prolongs rehab when not addressed early on.